Tag Archives: New York Islanders

The 2018 Hockey Hall of Fame Class was inducted on Monday, plus we remember the NHL Guardians and celebrate Joe Thornton’s milestones. Tomas Plekanec retired– leaving us a turtleneck to pass on ceremoniously– and Milan Lucic was fined $10,000.

The Pittsburgh Penguins’ plight comes with an extension for General Manager Jim Rutherford, while the Los Angeles Kings battle the injury bug in net (we finished recording before Wednesday’s trade between the two clubs).

Meanwhile, Tom Wilson is back, a concussion lawsuit was settled, the 2019 NWHL All-Star Game was announced, Jakob Chychrun got a six-year extension and Nick and Connor discuss when they’ll eventually let their kids (if they ever have any) play contact sports.

Pekka Rinne signed a two-year extension, John Stevens and Joel Quenneville were fired, Willie Desjardin’s back and there’s a new guy in Chicago (Jeremy Colliton), Philadelphia Flyers goaltending is in the news again, people in Ottawa are fired up about Uber, Lou Lamoriello reached 2,400 games as a GM as the New York Islanders lead the Metropolitan Division and is Halloween the new Thanksgiving? Nick and Connor discuss.

With Tuesday’s latest leak of the Los Angeles Kings, Tampa Bay Lightning and Toronto Maple Leafs third jerseys comes time to finally announce one DTFR writer’s thoughts and power rankings of all the latest threads around the National Hockey League for 2018-19 and beyond.

Teams often try to generate a look that is representative of their brand and generates a buzz. Some of the new jerseys certainly generate a buzz, but for being so off-brand or so far-off from what was previously conceptualized as reality.

The last sentence was full of jargon to remind you this isn’t some serious reading. It’s a light-hearted ranking of one taste in threads– not representative of the masses who for some reason still think The Mighty Ducks is a great movie franchise or whatever.

Hold the phone on those strong Lightning takes (unless they’re bluffing and this is really what they have or were going to go with until everyone released a collective “what the [expletive] is that?”).

18. Pittsburgh Penguins (unveiled, Oct. 9, 2018)

A blend of heritage from the 1980s and our recent Stadium Series sweaters.

The Penguins brought back their 2017 Stadium Series jersey, minus the triangle surrounding the captain and alternate captain designations. They also put the numbers on the shoulders and gave them yellow helmets. It’s gross.

Congrats Flyers fans, you beat Pittsburgh at something. Granted, by one position in these rankings. No amount of Gritty can save you now.

Philly took their 2017 Stadium Series jersey and kept with their own tradition of making an outdoor game jersey part of their regular lineup by fitting it to ADIZERO standards. It’s… fine? The black numbers outlined in white could’ve been white numbers with an orange outline, just to make them distinguishable from the balcony or something.

The 2015-17 era third jersey that’s meant to look like a modern-retro interpretation of the Colorado Rockies if the Rockies existed as the Avalanche today (did you get that all?) was brought back in the ADIZERO technology.

Anaheim introduced a mashup of their entire 25-year franchise history and produced… this. It’s not the original look and it’s not even original. It’s a bunch of recycled bits, plus a weird, new yoke thing. That’s exactly what they wanted me to call it. No, the Ducks didn’t tell me to say that.

At least they didn’t come out here and lay an egg in my review, but it’s pretty close to it. Good news, these are only a one-season thing. Try again next year.

Every time the Devils bring their Heritage Jerseys out, I think of 1) pizza, 2) the Italian flag and 3) the 1980s. I wasn’t even alive until the ’90s, but I think of vintage Martin Brodeur.

A rarity in today’s league, New Jersey introduced a white alternate to their palette of sweaters to choose from any given night. Luckily, it doesn’t look terrible, since it’s just their 1982 sweater modernized in the ADIZERO styling.

13. Columbus Blue Jackets (unveiled, Sept. 17, 2018)

The Columbus Blue Jackets have announced the return of the cannon! Re-introducing their alternate uniform for the upcoming 2018-19 NHL season this morning #BlueJackets#Adidas#AdidasHockey#NHL

The Blue Jackets brought back their 2015-17 alternate sweaters, but with an updated number and letter font to match their home and road jerseys in addition to the overall ADIZERO cut.

Overall, Columbus’ resurrection of these isn’t terrible– it’s middle of the road.

12. Edmonton Oilers (unveiled, Sept. 4, 2018)

We’re also excited to unveil the #Oilers retro jersey that will be worn four times this season vs. former Smythe Division opponents, plus the 40th anniversary jersey patch that will be worn on all jerseys during 2018-19! pic.twitter.com/cLgrQBxWY9

Edmonton debuted an ’80s era Throwback sweater in the ADIZERO style and the only thing I have to say (other than there’s nothing special about it that sets it apart from the rest) is that royal blue should still be their primary color, really.

Maybe take my word for it, Oilers.

11. Los Angeles Kings (leaked, Nov. 6, 2018)

It’s just their 50th anniversary specialty sweaters without any gold and updated to the ADIZERO cut, so not terrible, but not great. Kind of like their team in a nutshell. They’ve won a couple Cups, they’ve got some big names, but they’re not in their golden days anymore. I guess Kings fans like them, so it’s not all bad. Oh there’s a little purple in the inside collar with the old-school 1967 crown, so that’s cool.

The Islanders saw what the Washington Capitals wore against the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2018 Stadium Series game and said “Yeah! We want something just like that!”, so they ditched the Brooklyn black sweater for these nifty threads. The traditional four orange stripes on the “Y” in “NY” represent the four Cups the franchise has won and serve as tape on the hockey stick the “Y” just so happens to make.

It’s a little nice touch to an otherwise bland looking sweater. At the very least, the numbers are in orange– outlined in white– just like they were on the original blue sweaters the club wore in 1972-73, so creativity points?

While not originally planned– necessarily– as part of the return of third jerseys from their one-year hiatus as adidas took over for Reebok as the league’s jersey supplier, Ottawa took their 2017 Centennial Classic sweater and made it their regular alternate jersey for the foreseeable future on Thursday nights.

It’s possible the silver-O jersey may stick around past 2018-19, since the team is said to be working on a brand new primary logo for 2019-20 and beyond.

For the first time since relocating to Winnipeg, the Jets introduced a brand new third jersey featuring a new wordmark crest (an homage to the original Jets franchise from their WHA days), striping that’s reminiscent of the old Jets franchise (but from the 1990s and updated to the current club’s colors) and baby blue as the primary color of the sweater, presumably paying tribute (though not actually) to their original days as the Atlanta Thrashers.

Winnipeg also has a new number font to complete the look.

It’s not bad, just a little disappointing considering the goldmine of a shoulder patch logo on the home and road sweaters that could’ve really made an alternate jersey pop.

Washington brought back their 1974 original look that they also used the white version of for the 2011 Winter Classic in Pittsburgh. The Capitals switched to the red ones in 2015 and used them as alternates through 2017, then took the mandatory one-year hiatus of all third jerseys in accordance with the switch to adidas as the jersey supplier and ADIZERO as the jersey style.

St. Louis went with their original threads that they wore back in 1967 and the 2017 Winter Classic at Busch Stadium, but just, like adidas-ified. #ADIZEROtechnology

Tired of the white numbers on the blue home sweaters? Don’t worry, in 1967, the Blues got it right and they’re bringing those jerseys back to a regular basis as their alternates, so they’ll look right some of the time this season and beyond.

3. Arizona Coyotes (unveiled, June 22, 2018)

We wanted to create the most beautiful jersey in the world.

Then we realized, the most beautiful jersey in the world was already created.

One of the few good things to come from the 1990s was the classic, outlandish, look of the Arizona Coyotes kachina sweaters. These throwback thirds have been updated to the ADIZERO fit and aren’t anything new, but nostalgia sells and in a time where everything old is new again, the Coyotes timed it right to bring back some ’90s-chic.

The Hurricanes introduced a brand-new third jersey featuring the correct hurricane warning flag display as a crest, the North Carolina state flag– slightly modified to a greyscale– as a shoulder patch (which they had to get approved by the state government to add to the sweater), a grey yoke with a red outline on a black jersey with two red sleep stripes and a red trim.

Overall it’s a glamorous combination of modern, sleek and stormy. This isn’t actually all that bad once it’s flying around the ice or flossing– did I get that right?

Carolina introduced a special throwback sweater that’ll be worn twice this season as the team will rebrand itself for a couple of nights. Yes, blast “Brass Bonanza” from your speakers, ladies and gentlemen, because the Hartford Whalers have returned (kind of).

These ADIZERO Whalers threads have been updated to the current jersey cut and branded with blue hurricane warning flags inside the collar and will be worn on Dec. 23rd in Raleigh against Boston and on March 5th in Boston against the Bruins.

Hartford, Connecticut residents may be unnerved, but I’ll step right up and take 20 as a hockey fan, thanks.

Re-introducing a black third jersey, the Sharks went full-on stealth mode by calling these teal and black masterpieces Stealth Jerseys. Think of those midnight jerseys Reebok made for all the teams a few years ago and that’s pretty much it for San Jose. Take out a lot of white and orange, replace it with black, teal and a microchip design in the sleeve.

They actually don’t look that bad, especially when Erik Karlsson was the one to debut them in the preseason much to the surprise of the fans at SAP Center.

We’re still waiting on the Los Angeles Kings, Tampa Bay Lightning and Toronto Maple Leafs to officially unveil their new sweaters, but all three already leaked so let’s just assume nothing’s going to change between now and when the sweaters hit the ice.

You can once again begin asking the question “is it October yet?” without facing any legal ramifications, despite the fact that the 2018-19 regular season is very much alive and in effect.

Canadian Thanksgiving has come and gone, but for all of you urban legend believers in postseason fate, American Thanksgiving has yet to pass– meaning every team’s playoff hopes is still technically alive. The majority of teams in playoff position by American Thanksgiving– in this case, Nov. 22nd– make the playoffs.

If you’re new to hockey, this is a thing, but it’s not set in stone. There’s always that one or two teams that sneak their way in from outside the picture frame. Likewise, there’s always that team that blows it down the stretch.

The Tampa Bay Lightning are off to a hot start, working their way to 1st place in the Atlantic Division by the end of October, with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Boston Bruins hot on their tail just as we all expected.

Though the Maple Leafs have a fiery offense and solid goaltending, defense has been the most apparent area for improvement. In Boston, depth scoring, injuries and a slow start in net for Tuukka Rask have held the Bruins back from realizing their full potential, but the depth of their defenders and backup netminder Jaroslav Halak have kept them in good-standing.

In the surprise of the month for the Atlantic Division, the Montreal Canadiens sit 4th and the Buffalo Sabres sit 5th– both with 14 points on the season so far. Meanwhile, to no surprise the Ottawa Senators are 6th, the Detroit Red Wings are in a rebuild and the Florida Panthers simply haven’t played as many games as their opponents.

Taking a look at the Metropolitan Division and you won’t be surprised to see the Pittsburgh Penguins back in control with Sidney Crosby at the steering wheel, but you might be surprised by the other current divisional playoff spot holders.

The New York Islanders are 2nd and the Carolina Hurricanes are 3rd after the Hurricanes led the division for most of the month, only to begin a recent skid.

Just on the outskirts of a wild card spot are the Washington Capitals, Columbus Blue Jackets and New Jersey Devils.

Washington’s off to a slower start than expected, but overall not feeling as bad as a Stanley Cup hangover as it could’ve been– given how many fountains around D.C. they dove in and the number of beers consumed.

Columbus is just over .500 and the Devils have also played fewer games than anyone in their division, much like the Panthers.

The Philadelphia Flyers sit 7th in the Metropolitan Division in a tight race, but have shown weaknesses on the blue line and in the blue paint (goaltending, again) and the New York Rangers are in a full-scale rebuild to start things off this season.

In the Western Conference, the Nashville Predators are staking a case for defending their President’s Trophy season last year currently sitting atop the Central Division, as well as the league.

Filling out the remaining Central Divisions spots, last season’s biggest improvers, the Colorado Avalanche sit 2nd with the Minnesota Wild in 3rd. There’s two wild card berth in the Central Division, currently held by the Winnipeg Jets and Chicago Blackhawks(!?!)– that’s right, last season’s division bottom feeders are able to keep their heads barely above the surface with Corey Crawford back in the net.

The Dallas Stars sit 6th and the St. Louis Blues have had the wheels fall off in just a month’s time.

In the Pacific Division, the Vancouver Canucks lead the San Jose Sharks, Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, Arizona Coyotes, Anaheim Ducks, Vegas Golden Knights and the 31st place team in the league– the Los Angeles Kings.

Yes, the Pacific Division is that wide-open so far with legitimate playoff contenders from last season (San Jose, Anaheim, Vegas and Los Angeles) all over the place. The Sharks haven’t hit their stride, the Ducks are suffering from injuries and defensive breakdowns, while the Golden Knights are looking for last season’s inaugural season magic.

Oh and the Kings? Yeah, everything’s pretty bad right now and Jonathan Quick‘s out indefinitely.

Meanwhile, pleasant surprises in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Arizona are being led by… youth?

Nothing makes sense anymore.

Luckily, that’s just a quick recap of the first month in about as bland an outlook as you can get when the meat of this post is really about what’s to come. That’s right, everything above? Forget most of it. Let’s use a little foresight and figure out how November through April should go.

2018-19 Projected Standings after One Month

Eastern Conference

Atlantic Division

y-Boston Bruins, 104 points (12 GP so far)

x-Tampa Bay Lightning, 103 points (11 GP so far)

x-Toronto Maple Leafs, 94 points (12 GP so far)

wc1-Montreal Canadiens, 93 points (11 GP so far)

Florida Panthers, 84 points (9 GP so far)

Ottawa Senators, 84 points (11 GP so far)

Detroit Red Wings, 81 points (12 GP so far)

Buffalo Sabres, 76 points (12 GP so far)

What’s bound to happen in the Atlantic?

The forecast is so close between the top-three teams in the division that none of their positions in the standings are truly set in stone, unlike how the Red Wings will undoubtedly land somewhere in the bottom-three spots in the Atlantic.

There’s a chance the Panthers never get off the ground and there’s a chance the Sabres are able to continue turning heads around the league by not currently being in the basement of the division. However, since this forecast takes into consideration recent seasons in addition to current gameplay…

Check back in another month.

(Is it too early to do one of these? Yeah, probably.)

Metropolitan Division

z-Washington Capitals, 107 points (10 GP so far)

x-Pittsburgh Penguins, 106 points (10 GP so far)

x-Columbus Blue Jackets, 93 points (11 GP so far)

wc2- New York Islanders, 89 points (11 GP so far)

Philadelphia Flyers, 89 points (12 GP so far)

New York Rangers, 89 points (12 GP so far)

New Jersey Devils, 87 points (9 GP so far)

Carolina Hurricanes, 85 points (12 GP so far)

The biggest takeaway from the Metropolitan forecast is after the top-two teams, anything goes.

Washington will be able to right the ship and land in a divisional spot– whether that’s top-dog or behind the Penguins remains to be seen. Columbus should even out as they’ve been doing as of late and settle in for another First Round exit (probably).

But between the Islanders, Flyers, Rangers, Devils and Hurricanes? Yeah, anything goes.

The Islanders are better than the Rangers, but the Rangers might somehow be better than the Flyers. Meanwhile, if New Jersey can get things going like they did last season, they’ve got a chance to box out the competition. Plus, Carolina remains unpredictable and foreseeably within striking range of a wild card spot in the 2019 Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Again, it’s only been one month. There’s still a little more than five months left in the regular season.

Western Conference

Central Division

z-Nashville Predators, 105 points (12 GP so far)

x-Minnesota Wild, 100 points (12 GP so far)

x-Chicago Blackhawks, 98 points (13 GP so far)

wc1-St. Louis Blues, 96 points (10 GP so far)

wc2-Winnipeg Jets, 94 points (12 GP so far)

Dallas Stars, 90 points (11 GP so far)

Colorado Avalanche, 85 points (12 GP so far)

In the Central Division, the Nashville Predators continue to reign supreme. Cool.

Minnesota, Chicago and St. Louis are all somehow destined for the postseason. This, after the Wild make it every year, Crawford’s return lifts the Blackhawks over the competition and supposedly the Blues will figure things out.

Wait, the Avalanche can’t be that bad.

Once again, it’s an extremely early forecast that takes into account recency bias from the last few seasons. Colorado won’t be last. Winnipeg shouldn’t be a wild card team.

But Dallas? Yeah, they’re definitely not making the playoffs if they keep playing like they have been.

Pacific Division

y-San Jose Sharks, 101 points (12 GP so far)

x-Anaheim Ducks, 98 points (13 GP so far)

x-Calgary Flames, 89 points (13 GP so far)

Los Angeles Kings, 87 points (11 GP so far)

Vancouver Canucks, 84 points (14 GP so far)

Edmonton Oilers, 83 points (11 GP so far)

Arizona Coyotes, 77 points (11 GP so far)

Vegas Golden Knights, 75 points (12 GP so far)

By now everything you’ve read should indicate what’s going to be written below.

Anaheim? If they can whether the storm, they can make it in one of the most unpredictable divisions based on how bad the other teams are or should be.

Calgary? Bill Peters finally coaches a team to a playoff berth? Yeah. That should happen.

The Kings can recover from this slow start– if they don’t mess things up in November.

As for the Canucks, Oilers, Coyotes and Golden Knights, well, Vancouver might make some noise. Edmonton could be a pretender as long as Connor McDavid is a contender. Arizona remains to be seen and the situation looks like it’s only going to get worse for Vegas before anything gets better– if it even does.

Injuries are scaring the masses across the league, while old ghosts haunt Colorado (then lose), the Los Angeles Kings’ reign of terror is spooked, Mark Borowiecki is back again, Nick and Connor do their best to talk about the Columbus Blue Jackets and the thing that goes bump in the night? That’s the Tampa Bay Lightning thundering their way to the top. We also reviewed Bohemian Rhapsody before it comes out.

Halak (4-0-2 in 7 games played with a 1.52 goals against average and .947 save percentage) made 42 saves on 44 shots against for a .955 SV% in the win, while Carolina’s Scott Darling made his 2018-19 season debut after returning from injury and his conditioning stint with the Charlotte Checkers (AHL).

Darling (0-1-0 in 1 GP) turned aside 28 shots out of 31 shots faced for a .903 SV% in 57:39 time on ice in the loss.

Boston improved to 7-3-2 (16 points) on the season, good enough for 2nd place in the Atlantic Division standings (trailing the Toronto Maple Leafs), while the Hurricanes slid to 6-5-1 (13 points) and 3rd place in the Metropolitan Division (behind the Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Islanders).

Torey Krug made his season debut for the Bruins as he was back in the lineup for the first time since his leg injury in the preseason, while Matt Grzelcyk was out of Bruce Cassidy‘s lineup with a lower body injury.

Early in the first period– like, 35 seconds into the opening frame, early– Jordan Staal tripped Bruins defender, John Moore, and gave Boston their first power play of the night. The B’s did not convert on the ensuing skater advantage.

Late in the first period, Jeremy Lauzon tripped Carolina forward, Brock McGinn, and gave the Hurricanes their first power play opportunity of the night at 17:46 of the first period.

It only took eight seconds for the Canes to score on the skater advantage.

Micheal Ferland (7) notched the power play goal as a scramble for the loose puck ensued as Halak fell back in desperation, yearning to make a glove save while No. 79 in red pocketed the rubber biscuit in the twine.

Sebastian Aho (13) and Valentin Zykov (3) were credited with the assists on the goal that made it 1-0 Carolina at 17:54 of the first period.

Cassidy used his coach’s challenge on the call on the ice (goal) on the grounds for a goaltender interference review as Zykov had brushed behind Halak in the crease prior to Ferland getting a stick on the puck. After review, the call on the ice stood and the Bruins lost their timeout as a result.

With his assist on Ferland’s goal, Aho became the 3rd player in NHL history to record at least one assist in a season-opening streak of 12 games joining Edmonton’s Wayne Gretzky (7-20–27 totals through 12 games in 1982-83) and Boston’s Ken Linseman (2-19–21, 1985-86).

The goal was also Ferland’s 100th career NHL point.

Less than a minute later, Brandon Carlo earned himself a minor infraction for slashing Andrei Svechnikov and was sent to the penalty box at 18:29. Carolina didn’t score as time expired in the first period, so the resulting power play carried over into the second period.

Entering the dressing room for the first intermission, Carolina held onto a 1-0 lead on the scoreboard and a 12-8 advantage in shots on goal. The Hurricanes also led in blocked shots (3-2), takeaways (4-2), giveaways (3-2) and hits (16-10), while the Bruins led in face-off win percentage (55-46).

Carolina went 1/2 on the power play in the first period and Boston was 0/1 after 20 minutes.

The second period started out much to the tune of a more controlled Bruins effort as Brad Marchand moved in all alone on Darling, only to lose the puck while switching to his backhand as the Hurricanes netminder dove to make a last-ditch effort poke check.

Jaccob Slavin received a slashing minor for his obstruction of Marchand’s ability to get a shot off and Boston went back on the power play 1:01 into the second period.

Moments later it was Marchand himself cutting a rut to the sin bin for slashing Hurricanes blue liner, Dougie Hamilton, in one of those retaliation “chop the stick out of the other guy’s hands” plays at 4:55.

Carolina did not score on the power play.

Just past the halfway mark of the second period, Hurricanes captain, Justin Williams caught Krug up high with a stick to the face and was subsequently penalized for high-sticking at 10:36.

The Bruins scored on the ensuing power play, tying the game, 1-1, thanks to David Pastrnak (11) and his third time’s a charm effort on a one-timer blast from about the goal line, beating Darling short side.

Krug (1) and Patrice Bergeron (10) were tabbed with the assists on Pastrnak’s power play goal at 12:22 of the middle frame.

Moore later sent the puck over the glass and received an automatic delay of game minor infraction, yielding a skater advantage to Carolina at 17:20.

While on a face-off in the attacking zone on the ensuing power play, Jordan Staal won the draw back to the left point where Hamilton (2) blasted a one-timer past Halak, high, blocker-side to give the Hurricanes a power play goal and the lead, 2-1 at 18:33.

Staal (3) had the only assist on Hamilton’s goal against the team that drafted him 9th overall in the 2011 NHL Draft prior to sending him to the Calgary Flames hours before the 2015 NHL Draft in exchange for a 2015 1st round pick (Zach Senyshyn, 15th overall) and two 2015 2nd round picks (Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson, 45th overall and Lauzon, 52nd overall).

The Flames, of course, traded Hamilton to Carolina this offseason, along with Adam Fox and Ferland in exchange for Elias Lindholm and Noah Hanifin.

After Bergeron stripped Warren Foegele of the puck on a break-in, No. 37 in black-and-gold sent a pass up-ice to his linemate wearing No. 63 awaiting entry in the attacking zone at the blue line.

From there, Marchand (3) broke in with speed and fired a wrist shot past Darling’s glove hand to tied the game, 2-2, on the power play as the Hurricanes were caught during a bungled line change.

Carolina’s bench was guilty of too many men on the ice and Boston went from ending one power play to beginning a new one at 19:42 of the middle frame.

Bergeron (11) had the only assist on Marchand’s power play goal and Ferland served the bench minor for the Hurricanes as play resumed.

Through two periods of play the score was tied, 2-2, and the Hurricanes were outshooting the Bruins, 36-22. Boston held onto an advantage in blocked shots (8-7), while the Canes led in takeaways (8-6), hits (19-18) and face-off win% (56-44). Both teams had nine giveaways aside after 40 minutes of play and Carolina was 2/4 on the power play, while the B’s were 2/5.

Boston was the only team to score a goal in the third period as Marchand (4) picked up his second of the night on a wraparound goal, having freed himself with speed from Williams behind the net at 5:23 of the final frame.

Darling overcommitted to the right side of the crease as Marchand maintained possession, wrapped around the goalframe and gave the Bruins their first lead of the night, 3-2, at 5:23 of the third period.

Bergeron (12) once again had the only assist on Marchand’s goal.

After a stoppage in play with 2:19 remaining in regulation, Hurricanes head coach, Rod Brind’Amour used his timeout to hone the focus of his players on the ice on getting the game-tying goal with the extra attacker as a result of pulling his goaltender.

Carolina’s plans didn’t come to fruition and almost backfired when Pastrnak sent the puck wide of the open 4-by-6 frame with less than 10 seconds remaining in the game.

At the final horn, Boston defeated Carolina, 3-2, on the scoreboard, despite trailing, 44-31, in shots on goal. The Hurricanes led in every other category, including blocked shots (17-12), giveaways (15-12), hits (28-23) and face-off win% (56-44) after the 60-minute effort.

The B’s finished 2/5 on the power play, while the Canes went 2/4.

The Bruins head to Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee for a Saturday night matchup with the Predators before returning home on Monday, Nov. 5th against the Dallas Stars.

Among other stats…

Pastrnak led Boston with nine shots on goal. Marchand was the next closest with five. Carlo led his teammates in hits with six and Zdeno Chara recorded a team-high three blocked shots.

John Tavares and Patrice Bergeron both had hat tricks in the last week, so Nick and Connor discuss hat trick ethics and more, since celebrations are hot topics these days. Also, everything else that happened in the first week of regular season action.

Patrice Bergeron was part of the Hart Trophy conversation last season until he was sidelined by injuries late in the year, but he’s making himself an early Hart Trophy favorite this season with his 4th career hat trick on the tails of a four-point afternoon for the Boston Bruins in Monday’s 6-3 win over the Ottawa Senators.

It’s only October, of course.

In the calendar year, 2018, Bergeron has three hat tricks alone– including two last season (January 6th vs. Carolina– he had four goals that night, actually– and January 18th at N.Y. Islanders) and Monday afternoon’s matinee matchup. It was also his first hat trick against the Senators since January 11, 2011.

Bergeron wasn’t the only storyline for the Bruins against Ottawa, as David Pastrnak also had a four-point game, notching two goals and two assists. Brad Marchand had three assists in the effort as Boston’s first line led the offensive effort for the Bruins.

The two players with four-points in the game (Bergeron and Pastrnak) marked the first time in franchise history that multiple players recorded at least four points in Boston’s home opener.

Tuukka Rask had 28 saves on 31 shots faced for a .903 save percentage in the win, while Ottawa netminder, Mike Condon, had 24 saves on 29 shots against for an .828 SV% in the loss.

Condon made his first career start at TD Garden for the Senators. His previous start “in Boston” was actually in Foxborough, Massachusetts at Gillette Stadium for the Montreal Canadiens in the 2016 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic.

One more debut Monday afternoon was made by Senators forward– and 4th overall pick in the 2018 Draft– Brady Tkachuk in his NHL debut. Tkachuk played college hockey at Boston University and is the son of former NHLer and Melrose, Massachusetts native, Keith Tkachuk. Despite being born in Scottsdale, Arizona, the younger Tkachuk spent plenty of time growing up in and around Boston (as well as St. Louis, Missouri).

Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy juggled the lines a bit between last Thursday’s shutout victory in Buffalo and Monday’s matinee, putting David Backes at center on the third line in place of Nordstrom and moving Anders Bjork up a line into Backes’s right wing slot.

Additionally, Wagner slid in on the left side of Sean Kuraly and Noel Acciari on the fourth line. There were no changes to the defensive pairings.

It didn’t take long for Boston’s offense to strike as Bergeron (2) found a rebound and slid it under Condon while falling to the ice 30 seconds into the action to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead. Pastrnak (1) and Charlie McAvoy (2) had the assists on the goal.

Danton Heinen was guilty of an interference minor against Ottawa’s Mikkel Boedker shortly thereafter and was sent to the penalty box at 2:21 of the first period.

The Senators failed to convert on the ensuing power play as Boston continued to do a better job of controlling the overall game flow, even through chaos at times where Backes was left to make a desperation save on a shot block midway through the period.

Mark Borowiecki tripped Brandon Carlo at 11:21 of the first period and gave the Bruins their first power play of the afternoon. Boston did not convert on their first skater advantage, but would connect on the power play the second time around when Colin White took a hooking penalty against Acciari at 15:31.

Standing from his stereotypical bumper position in the low slot, Marchand sent a pass to Bergeron (3) for the one-timer power play goal past Condon for a 2-0 lead. Marchand (5) and Pastrnak (2) notched the assists on Bergeron’s second goal of the day at 17:12 of the first period.

After 20 minutes, the Bruins led 2-0 and led in shots on goal, 15-9. Ottawa dominated in blocked shots (8-3) and takeaways (4-3), while Boston also held the advantage in giveaways (4-3) and face-off win percentage (55-45). Through one period, hits were even, 5-5, and the Senators were 0/1 on the power play, while the B’s were 1/2.

Ryan Dzingel (1) opened scoring in the second period and got the Sens on the scoreboard, cutting Boston’s lead in half to make it 2-1. Mark Stone (1) and Zack Smith (3) had the assists on Dzingel’s goal as Stone found Dzingel creeping down the middle to find a loose puck in the slot and beat Rask at 2:21 of the second period.

Ottawa came out of the first intermission with a lot of moxie, spending more time in the offensive zone than they did in their own end and in the first period. In fact, the Senators wound up outshooting the Bruins, 12-6, in the second period as part of their offensive display.

Moments after Dzingel made it a one-goal game, Charlie McAvoy fired a shot that was redirected by Chris Wagner (1) for his first goal of the season and his first with his hometown team since joining the Bruins via free agency in July after splitting last season with the Anaheim Ducks and New York Islanders.

McAvoy (3) and Kuraly (1) were credited with the assists at 7:08 and Boston led, 3-1.

Matt Grzelcyk and Chris Wideman were charged with roughing minors after a stoppage in play at 8:18 of the second period and left both teams with two minutes of 4-on-4 action.

Nearly four minutes later, while McAvoy fumbled a wrap around the boards in his own end, Dzingel (2) pounced on the loose puck and threw it on goal from halfway between the point and the face-off circle along the wall, squeaking one past Rask– as Zdeno Chara partially screened his own goaltender– and again pulling Ottawa within one to make it, 3-2.

Through two periods, Boston led, 3-2, and shots on goal were tied, 21-21. The Senators domination of the second period pulled them to within a goal and gave them the advantage in blocked shots (11-6), takeaways (8-6) and face-off win% (60-40). Both teams had six giveaways through 40 minutes and hits were even, 14-14.

Bergeron (4) opened scoring in the third period with his hat trick goal at 4:38. His third goal of the afternoon deflected off of Sens defender Cody Ceci and past Condon after Bergeron initially tried to send the puck to Pastrnak in the slot.

Marchand (6) and McAvoy (4) picked up the assists on Bergeron’s third goal of the day that made it 4-2 Boston.

A couple minutes later, Alex Formenton crashed the net and ran into the Bruins goaltender as Rask aggressively played the puck outside his crease and tripped up Formenton– sending the Ottawa forward airborne over Rask.

Bruins defender, John Moore, didn’t take too kindly to his own teammate’s antics and received a minor penalty for roughing Formenton at 6:42 of the third period.

While on the penalty kill, Bergeron attempted to clear the puck down the frozen river and instead sent the rubber biscuit over the glass and out of the playing surface. He was given a delay of game minor penalty and Ottawa went on a 5-on-3 advantage at 7:26 of the third.

The Bruins killed off both minor penalties.

David Pastrnak (2) added his second goal of the season late in the third period and made it a three-goal game for Boston. Bergeron (2) and Zdeno Chara (1) had the assists and the Bruins had a 5-2 lead at 16:31.

Less than a minute later, Bobby Ryan (1) deflected a shot from DeMelo through traffic and past Rask to bring the Senators to within two goals and make it 5-3 at 17:03 of the third period.

DeMelo (2) and Chris Tierney (3) recorded the assists on Ryan’s first goal of the season and Ottawa can thank the Erik Karlsson trade for the pair of former San Jose Sharks members that led to Ryan’s goal.

With 1:50 remaining in regulation, Sens head coach Guy Boucher pulled Condon for an extra attacker, but it was to no avail as 28 seconds later Pastrnak (3) added an empty net goal to make it, 6-3, Boston.

Marchand (7) recorded his third assist of the afternoon on Pastrnak’s second goal of the game and the Bruins went on to walk away from their home opener with a 6-3 victory.

Ottawa finished Monday afternoon leading in shots on goal (31-30), blocked shots (14-8), giveaways (8-6) and face-off win% (57-43). Boston finished the afternoon with the win and leading in hits (18-17). The Senators were 0/3 on the power play, while the Bruins went 1/2.

Among some other stats from the matinee game…

Moore led all Bruins with four hits on the afternoon, while Boston’s fourth line combined for seven hits in the game with Wagner and Acciari each leading the Bruins forwards with three hits apiece (Kuraly had one hit).

Boston’s second line of David Krejci, Ryan Donato and Jake DeBrusk were all a minus-2, while Pastrnak led the Bruins in shots on goal with six. Bergeron had four.

Speaking of Bergeron, his first goal of the day marked the third fastest to begin a home-opening game in franchise history. Bergeron’s goal 30 seconds into the game trails Brad Boyes (18 seconds on October 19, 2006) and Terry O’Reilly (23 seconds on October 8, 1981).

98.5 The Sports Hub Bruins beat reporter, Ty Anderson, noted Bergeron’s hat trick was the first home opener hat trick since Cam Neely‘s 1995 home opener hat trick and The Boston Globe‘s Matt Porter followed that up with all of the home opener hat tricks for Boston since 1967, including Phil Esposito (October 10, 1973), Rick Middleton (October 7, 1976), Neely (October 7, 1995) and Bergeron (October 8, 2018).

Middleton’s No. 16 will be retired this November, joining Esposito’s No. 7 and Neely’s No. 8 (among others) in the rafters of TD Garden, so surely this means Bergeron’s No. 37 is a shoe-in to be retired someday.

The Bruins improved to 2-1-0 on the season and are currently tied for 1st place in the Atlantic Division with the Buffalo Sabres and Toronto Maple Leafs. Each team has four points on the season.